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Alberta, St. Thomas, Calgary to host national championships

OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced
Tuesday the host institutions for four national championships from
2013 to 2015.

The latest round of bidding included only two sports: indoor
track and field in 2013 and 2014, as well as women's hockey in 2014
and 2015.

The University of Alberta landed both track and field meets,
while St. Thomas University (2014) and the University of Calgary
(2015) will share hosting duties in women's hockey.

The UofA previously hosted the cream of CIS track and field in
Edmonton in 1986 and 1994.
St. Thomas, which is based in Fredericton, will host its first-ever
CIS event, while Calgary, which returned to CIS women's hockey in
2009-10 following a seven-year stint in the Alberta Colleges
Athletic Conference, organized the national tournament back in
2001.

"CIS is delighted that the STU will host our women's hockey
championship," said Marg McGregor, chief executive officer of CIS.
"While this will be STU's first CIS championship, they have been
very successful at hosting events in the past and our
student-athletes will benefit from that experience."

"Calgary is a city that loves hockey and a university that has a
track record of hosting world class events, while Alberta has
outstanding facilities that have played host to Canadian and
international events. We can look forward to records being broken
in Edmonton," McGregor continued. "Our student-athletes are bound
to experience unforgettable championships."

The three successful bidders were delighted when notified by CIS
on Monday.

"The University of Alberta is thrilled with the opportunity to
host the CIS track and field championships in 2013 and 2014," said
director of athletics Ian Reade. "The Canadian Athletics Coaching
Centre (Athletics Canada) and Athletics Alberta are collaborating
with the Golden Bears and Pandas Track and Field program to host a
national championship that will bring profile and excitement to the
campus and the city."

"We are honoured to be awarded the CIS women's hockey
championship for 2014," said Mike Eagles, athletics director at St.
Thomas. "We've hosted two other national championships but this is
our first for CIS, and this championship has a resonance with our
community as our enrolment is 70 per cent female. With the
opportunity to host the pre-eminent women's hockey competition in
the country, we hope to further raise the profile of the women's
game in the region."

"Elite competition is one of the foundational pillars of the
Joan Snyder Program of Excellence, and the national championship
certainly qualifies," said Ron Wuotila, director of athletics and
recreation at the UofC, which recently received a pioneering gift
from philanthropist Joan Snyder of $500,000, creating the Joan
Snyder Program of Excellence. "We are honoured to have been awarded
the 2015 CIS women's hockey championship and look forward to
building on the great hosting tradition of the University of
Calgary."

Before moving to Edmonton, the CIS indoor track and field
championships will be held at the University of Manitoba in
Winnipeg next March.

The CIS women's hockey tourney will be contested at the UofA in
2012 and at the University of Toronto in 2013.